The present invention relates to a device for feeding reels to a user machine.
In particular, the present invention relates to a feeder device which can be advantageously used to transfer reels of material in tape form from a fixed supporting surface, on which the reels are superimposed one above the other so as to form one or more stacks, to a conveyor which normally forms an input magazine of a user machine and is arranged in a raised position with respect to said fixed supporting surface.
Known devices of the above described type generally comprise a lifting unit, which is arranged adjacent to said fixed supporting surface and is provided with a platform which can move between a lower loading station, in which said platform is arranged at a fixed level with respect to said supporting surface, and an upper station for feeding the spools to said conveyor.
Normally, the reels are transferred from the fixed supporting surface to said platform by an operator, who removes the reels manually and in succession from one of the stacks arranged on said fixed supporting surface and transfers them onto the platform, which is stationary in the lower loading station.
Known devices of the above described type have the drawback that they are scarcely ergonomic, since the reels, being stacked on the supporting surface, are transferred by an operator onto said platform starting from levels which vary progressively as the reels are removed from the related stacks and fed onto said platform. In other words, the movements that the operator performs to transfer a reel from the supporting surface to the platform constantly vary from one reel to the next and become relatively tiring in a short time.
Furthermore, in known devices of the above described type the transfer of the reels from said platform to said conveyor is generally difficult to perform.